


Farther Than This

by Nemotaco



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Angst, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Phan - Freeform, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2019-10-27 21:53:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17774879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nemotaco/pseuds/Nemotaco
Summary: when youtube declares bankrupt after being one of the most popular social medias ever for ten years, phil lester is left with no university degree, no job, and rapidly decreasing funds, his only option is to start working for a fast food service on the outskirts of london.everything was working out, then on his second day on the job he meets his new manager.





	1. Chapter 1

“What the fuck.” Is the first thing Phil says when he hears the default iPhone alarm going off, it had been awhile since he heard that deathly tune. He opens his eyes and finds himself glaring at his ceiling that has lines of sunlight reflecting from his window, he reaches for his glasses as he starts to sit up and as he turns his head his sight gets caught on the clock that read 6:30. “Fuck! Fuckfuckfuckfuck-” was all that came out of his mouth as he got up and ran to his closet.

The thing was, Phil never wanted this job, but he had no choice. Youtube had always been his dream job and he was lucky enough to rack up over 300,000 subscribers. He thought that was his future, making videos in his room and getting a pretty heavy paycheck once a month, but Youtube in 2019 wasn’t the same as it was ten years ago. There were too many content creators on that website that one of the biggest social media platforms had gone bankrupt. They were unable to pay their creators and staff, leaving Phil empty handed. He wishes he could go back in time, before he dropped out on university just to make a living on a website that will soon become distinct in the matter of years.

But here he was, rushing into his car at an ungodly time and having to work in a fast food restaurant in the outskirts of London every week day for eight hours. Phil wishes he was used to this, but he’s not. He’s used to waking up past noon and only working for three hours a day, but it is what it is. 

He’s just pulling into the parking lot when he gets a phone call from Pj, he answers just because he’d rather not walk in and make small talk with people he barely knows for 20 minutes.

‘GOOD MORNING PHIL!” Pj screams before he can even say hi.

“Hi Pj.”

“I just wanted to call before you started your first shift! How are you feeling on a beautiful morning like this?” 

“First off dickhead, this is my second shift and you knew that, but I have to say, being awake in the morning is pretty refreshing but it’s going to take a while for me to get used to it.” Taking a look around the parking lot finding a good place to park, going for the upper parking lot seemed like a better option since it was closer to the actual store, so he headed there.

“You’ll get used to it trust be bro, you’ll be going to bed before midnight soon enough!” Pj cackles.

“Ugh, I don’t want to think about that right now.” He pulls up beside a nice looking car, even though he doesn’t know much about mechanics, he knows that anything black and slick looking is expensive. “Okay Peej, I think I’m going to head in. It was nice talking to you man.”

“Sounds good Phil, don’t forget to find yourself a splenda daddy. Byee-”

“Wait. What the fuck is a splenda daddy?”

“It’s like a sugar daddy, but instead it’s a splenda daddy because everyone you work with is broke.” Pj says.

“Oh.” He can feel himself blush for some reason. “Okay I guess I’ll let you know when I find my splenda daddy, bye!” He hangs up right away and gathers his things and heads into his new second home.

He’s been here twice before, not counting the times he had come through drive thru when his cupboards are empty, so he kind of knows his way around, the automatic doors open and a gust of warmth hits his face. There’s no customers, so he’d imagine it would be a slow day. As he walked into the “employees only” door he finds himself face to face with a worker he’d met the previous day.

“Hey man! How are you?” Max asks as he props open the door with the mop bucket he was dragging around before. 

“Oh, I’m good! Second shift today, I hope it goes well.” Phil says, proud of himself for making average small talk at seven in the morning.

“Yeah.. It’s been pretty slow this morning so you’ll probably be able to learn the ropes! I have to start moping now before Dan catches me being lazy again. See you!” He starts to go through the door with the mop bucket and Phil keeps the door open for him.

“Thank you man! Sorry what’s your name again?” 

Phil chuckles. “I’m Phil, no worries mate.” With that he starts to walk to the changerooms to hang his coat and check his appearance. He doesn’t recognize anyone he worked with yesterday and he can feel the anxiety start to bubble. He checks his phone and finds that he has to clock-in in less than a minute, so he rushes and walks back up to the front to punch in his code. He knew his next step was to confront a manager to know what station he was supposed to be on, but he couldn’t catch eye of the dark blue shirt that all managers wear. Instead of walking around like a clueless idiot he decided to ask someone. The first person he could make awkward eye contact was a tall brunette who had the nametag ‘Meagan’ attached to her work uniform.

“Hi! I was wondering if there was a manager around?” He asks politely and the girl smiles brightly in return.

“You must be Phil! Nice to meet you, I hope everything works out for you here. Dan is in the manager's office towards the back, you can’t miss it!”  
“Thank you Meagan, I appreciate it.” He starts to turn when he hears the light ‘huh’ from Meagan. “What? Is there something on my uniform?” He starts to brush off invisible dust.

“Oh no, your uniform looks fine just… How did you know my name? Max better not be spreading rumours again I swear to go-”

“Your nametag.” He interupts.

“Oh fuck my life, sorry it’s too early for this shit. Oh fuck excuse my language.” He can see the faint blush rise in her cheeks and he’s glad someone can relate to hatred of mornings.

“No worries, I’ll see you in a few, gotta go talk to the manager.” He starts walking to the back and spots the room that has a clear window beside the door, being able to peer in Phil sees the back of a dark blue shirt and a young looking boy sitting in the black chair, he’s typing rapidly on the computer. Phil gently knocks on the door and the boy whirls around and signals Phil to come in. He opens the door and lingers there, the boy is absolutely gorgeous and it almost lives Phil breathless and then he remembers he’s supposed to talk.

“Hello, I’m Phil! I’m just wondering where you want me for today?” He’s nervous, he can feel it and he hates it. Then the boy smiles and he feels like he’s gonna faint.

“Oops I should have been on floor thirty minutes ago! Sorry I wasn’t paying attention to the clock… This is your first day right?” He stands and quickly turns around to save whatever he was doing and log off of his computer.

“It’s technically my second, I worked yesterday for four hours just to train.” He says as he quickly looks over to the clock and realizes he technically should have started ten minutes ago, hoping that the shift was running fine without him.

The manager straightens back up and strides his way to a small square mirror that is on one of the walls beside a ton of important looking papers. He quickly fixes his hair (that Phil has the urge to just ruin) and walks over to Phil, getting a better look at each other Phil can see that he has honey coloured eyes and that he has a red spot that almost looks like a rub mark beside his mouth. He’s pretty, Phil can’t lie, but he has to act cool or else he will make a fool of himself and have to quit out of embarrassment.

They’re standing quite close to each other, so Phil didn’t have an issue hearing the faint “I’m Dan by the way.” 

“So I’ve heard.” Phil cocks his head. Such a perfect name to a perfect person.

“Really now?” Dan also cocks his head.

“Yeah. Nice to meet you Dan.” 

“Nice to meet you too Phil, now let’s seize the day.”


	2. Chapter 2

They didn’t necessarily seize the day like Dan said they would. It was busy and frankly Phil had no idea what he was doing. His co-workers were being supportive and patient but there was still the odd angry customer that would huff and gruff when Phil would ask to repeat what they had just said. Phil put the memo into his head that these were the hateful comments he’d receive under his video, except the comments had two eyes and a heartbeat and were only a few inches away from him. So in a way, he could get used to this. The minimum wage job that included angry customers, excessive amounts of grease, and a cute manager.

During his shift Phil didn’t learn much about Dan but that he’s way younger than Phil and somehow living a luxury life whilst only making 11.55 pounds an hour. Sporting a series four apple watch on his wrist and a Dior hoodie that Phil had seen Dan putting on while he was heading out, the young boy was definitely loaded. The crew that he was managing seemed to have no conflict with him at all, Phil watched as he made everyone laugh at least once throughout the day and maintained a positive attitude, even during the stressful hours. He will definitely be on the top 10 list that Phil is already starting to mentally organize. 

He was surprised that he was already heading out of the store at 3:05pm, quickly grabbing his things and throwing on a hoodie and making his way out the door. 

“Hey! New guy!” Someone yells after him just as the automatic doors slide open. He whips his head around to see a fairly tall guy just at the employees only door looking flustered. “I’m sorry I don’t mean to be that guy but is there any way you can work at 4 tomorrow? Megan has to call in.” 

“Uh… Sure?” Phil says as he shifts awkwardly. 

“Oh my god thank you. You’re a god sent from above. I’m Noel by the way, I’m a manager.” He says and walks over to extend his hand.

Phil takes it. “I’m Phil. I’m a new guy.” They shake hands and Phil takes the chance to wink at him. They both share a laugh and then depart. As Phil walks to his car he notices the black car is gone and his mind instantly goes back to Dan who had left around noonish. It could have been his car.

Driving home Phil feels dead. Drained mentally and psychically he sighs as he looks at the time. Remembering that it’s only three and there’s still a whole day ahead of him. He quickly detours to a local grocery store and picks up a few energy drinks for home. Wincing at the price but remembering he’ll soon be somewhat steady in a little less than a few weeks. Hoping back in the car he checks his phone to see a missed call and then a voicemail. He hooks his bluetooth up and starts heading home, listening to the voicemail.

“Hey Phil! I am a reporter for Entertainment Weekly and I was wondering if you were interested in doing an interview and a photoshoot tomorrow? We are gathering some popular lifestyle Youtubers.” He pauses. “Ex-Youtubers to come chat about your experience with social media. There will be food, we will have our designers to doll you up, and of course you will be paid by the hour. Please call me back if you’re interested Phil, I look forward to hearing from you.” 

“Message Deleted. Your voicemail is now empty.” 

Phil huffs loudly and puts on some music. Why in the fuck would he do that? His family is already disappointed enough no need to rub salt in the wounds of his failed career. After sometime he pulls into his driveway and heads to his apartment. 

He lounges, not really knowing what to do with the empty time that he’d usually spend editing or filming. His camera equipment eerily rests in the corner of his bedroom and his two Youtube play buttons are still sitting on a shelf by his front door that he can’t find himself bringing down. The only thing he uses that is linked to youtube is his MacBook, which is something he will never let leave him. 

For the next few hours Phil spends his time browsing his (private) social medias, when Youtube was shut down he was advised to deactivate all of his public social accounts linked to AmazingPhil. The comments were already starting to pour in on the day of the announcement.

“Damn wish you finished university now didn’t you?”

“Knew this wouldn’t be a permanent thing, delusional privileged people will always fall for these traps.” 

Phil didn’t even hesitate to press the deactivate button after seeing those, now he quietly lurks on accounts that don’t show an ounce of AmazingPhil. The only thing he didn’t deactivate was his business email, knowing that if there were any opportunities that they’d be sent there. He checks it everyday, always having a few emails that are either from scammers or businesses wishing him best of luck out of pity. 

Today, he only had one and it was from the same Buzzfeed guy who was inviting him to the interview tomorrow. He immediately deletes it. He shuts his laptop and starts to feel himself dozing off. 

It was a few hours later when he was awoken by his phone ringing. Jolting up and almost dropping his laptop off the couch. He reaches and puts the laptop on the coffee tables then goes to answer the phone, not even looking at the caller ID.

“Hello?”

“What is up my dude?” PJ replies. 

“You awoken be out of my humble slumber but I’m fine.” Phil replies as he combs his hand through his hair.

“Shit right dude sorry forgot you woke up early! How was work?” He can hear the sound of cars passing by through the speaker.

“It was pretty decent. I work tomorrow again now though.” 

“Wait what?” Pj asks.

“Wait what, what? We don’t have plans tomorrow and I want the extra cash.” He says, confused. 

“Uh, we have the Buzzfeed thing tomorrow! Did you not get the message.” 

“I did get the message and email and I deleted it right away. Do you seriously want to go to that stupid thing anyways?” Phil says as he lingers to the kitchen. 

“How stupid can you be to turn down so much money and a chance to look pretty?” Phil perks his ears at that.

“Wait what do you mean ‘so much money’?” 

“Do you remember how much we got paid for the sponsor from the new designer brand? Because it’s almost double the amount of that.” Phil’s jaw drops.

He finds himself on the phone with the Buzzfeed reporter not even five minutes later. Willing to call in for his third shift to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> awrf


End file.
